Protecting structure for storage containers



March 25, 1958 J, ow s 2,828,062

PROTECTING STRUCTURE FOR STORAGE CONTAINERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 6, 1955 INVENTORL Job/z it f'ellowes Filed Sept. 6, 1955 March 25, 1958 J. E. FELLOWES 2,828,062

PROTECTING STRUCTURE FOR STORAGE CONTAINERS 2 Sheets-Shet 2 INVENTOR. John 1:. P61101036 United States Patent PRDTECTING STRUCTURE FORSTORAGE CONTAINERS Y Company, Chicago, vIll., a corporation of Illinois Application September 6, 1955, Serial No. 532,693 6tClaims. :(Cl..229- 49) This invention relates .tostorage containers for vdocuments, files, etc., and particularly to .a protecting structure therefor.

J nhn E. vFellowes, Wheaton,:lll., assiguor to Bankers Box It is customary in the .larger businessorganizations renforced to provide the strength necessary for their minted use.

it has been proposed to stack the storage containers one open thetother in numbers varying from two orthree to a dozen or more, which imposes severe loads. upon the lowermost container. To avoid 'overstressing the lowermost container, it has beenproposed to ibuildaround each individual container orbox ainetal structure which .takes the verticalstresses ,ofi each .box so that "the :lowermost boxin a stack is ,no more stressed than thetopmost box, and, in fact, each container or box is substantially :independent of its neighbor above or below it, insofar .as vertical stresses are concerned.

Where the height of the stack of ttemporary storage .containers or boxesisinot very;great, there is a tendency to use the upper surface 'of theitopmost container as -a table surface (upon which to lay various articles.. Continued abrasion of the paper-upper surface by-such articles tsoonscuffs the :paper and may intime actually rupture the upper:surfaee, .thereby exposing the contents of that particular container to dirt,:moisture, .and the like. The weight of the articles :container to sag 'into the drawer space, with the result that .thecontentsof the drawerare scrapedeach vtitnezthe drawer .is moved. a a p .An-object of this invention is the provision of means for protecting. the "upper exposed surface of .a storage -containereor box, .and of means forafiixingthe protecting means to the structure normally efurnished vwith'suchca :storage box for taking verticahstresses from' the weaker componentathereof, I V

As a more specific object, thiseinventionseeks wthe provision of a steel or other metallic cover for a storage container made of fibrous material, wvith 'friction means on the container .for affixing thetcover thereto.

A further specific object of this inventionlis the provision 'of interlocking vertical and horizontal members to provide a rigid frame for 'storageboxes in which laterally spaced units A of such" frame are} held together at the top by-means running horizontally between :spa'ced vertical seetionsbfsaid'frame;

Among the more general objects of this invention are the provision of means for enhancing the appearance of the upper surface of a storage box or container, the protection of the corners of such container, the transfer of may .also cause ithe-top of the Patented .Mar. 25, .1958

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the weight of objects placed upon the upper surface of the containerfro'rn'such upper surfaceto metal reinforcing members aflixed to the sides of the container, and to close the space between adjacent stacks thereof.

'These and other objects of'this invention will become apparent from the following detailed description when taken together withthe accompanying drawings in which,

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view in perspective of a storage container showing the cover of this invention aflixed thereto;

Fig. 2 is an exploded view oftth e container of Fig. 1 showing the cover removed;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged "fragmentary view of a corner of the container of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an exploded view of the corner of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a section along line '55 of Fig. 4, the section showing the construction of a portion of the cover;

Fig. 6 is an elevational view in perspective of a pluralityof stacks of file containers, the top container of each stack beingprotected by the'cover of this invention; Fig. '7 is an 'elevational view in perspective of an intermediate container inthe stack shown in Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged endelevational view of a fragment of the=reinforcing structure used in connection with 'the containers 'of Fi'gs. 1 and 6; and

Fig. 9 is a perspective view, somewhat enlarged over which this invention may be applied is not material to :this invention and accordingly a detailed description -thereof will not be given here. A typical construction,

however, is shown in my copending application Serial "No. 345,093, filed March 27, 1953, now Patent No.

2,723,073, for Collapsible Filing Container from which it may be apparent that the storage container includes an open ended-rectangular boxrnade of pressed board,

cardboard or the like, a'ndfa drawe'r of similar material adapted to slide into 'the container. The drawer maybe wof precisely the same size as an ordinary file drawer of the steel or wooden ftype equipped with the relatively elaborate track and roller means forreducing the friction .and wear between the "steel :or wooden drawer and its container. Such pressed board storage container is shown in dotted outline .at 10 in .Fig. 1.

Vertical loads imposed by the'contents of the container '10.are transferred 'totvertically disposed struts 11 and 'lz-preferably made of heavy gauge steel. As shown more clearly in Fig. 2 the upper and lower regions of each strut are identical and each region includes, as shown in Fig. '4, a plurality of inwardly bent tabs 13 Which'pierce'the sides of the container and are then bent over in the interior thereof (not shown) to lock each strut to the side of the container. Columnar rigidity is-given each strut by forming parallel beads 14 and I5 inwardly of "the side edge regions thereof. Each strut ofone container isdnterlocked with the strut of the verti cally adjacent container-by means of a tie bar or rod *16 (showri'more c'learlyQinjEig. '9), said .tie rod preferablyfbeing formed 'of a pain'offU-Shaped steel strips 17 and ls welded backtopbaclr. "The ends 19 andZO of each strip'are'adapted toembr'ace corresponding struts on op- 14 and 15 thereof.

C each l of one container and jtherbottomsurfacerof the vertically fadja'cent (container, the weight Ydf ithe latter is taken by "the tie' rods and then transfer;r ed -.to the struts :hysa latroll 1'6 across .the upper surface and 20 of the strip are held frictionally in place at the end of a strut by a laterally displaced strap 24 dlspo'sed between surface 22 and the end of the strut adjacent tially in the'central region thereof and extending inwardly with reference to. the container into contact withthe 'outer' surface 26. of the tie bar 16. The dimple serves to produce a friction clamping action between the strap and bar to hold the bar in place. The strap 24 and corrugated region 21 constitute, in effect, a socket within which 1 the end of a strip may be received.

The relationship between the struts and tie rod is shown more clearly in Fig. 8. Two vertically adjacent thereto, said straprhaving a dimple 25- formed substanstruts 11 and 11a are shown, the parts of the strut 11a corresponding to the similar parts of strut 11 being designated by the same reference character with the letter a added. It may be apparentfrom Fig. 8 that loads impressed from above upon strut 11a are transferred to the end a of strip 17 through its contact with the surface 22a of the corrugated region 21a and thence through strip 18, end 20 and surface 22 of corrugated region 21 to strut 11. Such transfer of load occurs serially from top to bottom of a stack of containers equipped with the struts 11 and 12 and tie rods 16 so that the weight of a container is effectively taken by the struts therebelow for the cover and enhance the appearance thereof. Said I cover 27 is provided with transverse U-shaped strips 33, 34 which may be identical in every respect to strips 18. The downwardly extending ends of the U are adapt ed to be held by a strap 24 and dimple 25 in the upper ends of the struts 11 and 12, and the end surface of each strip is adapted to contact the upper surface 22 of the corrugated region 21 of said struts. Said U-shaped strips 33 and 34 are preferably welded to the underside of the cover 27 in such location thereon as to cause cover 27 to be properly centered with respect to a container 10 so that the flanges 29, 30, 31 and 32 extend over the sides and ends of the container. If desired, a reinforcing strip 36 may be Welded to the underside of cover 27 medially thereof and its ends may be secured by welding or otherwise to the central regions of strips 33 and 34.

It may be observed that cover 27 is interchangeable with a container 10 insofar as its connection with the struts '11 and 12 of a container are concerned and that the cover 27 will serve to transfer loads placed thereon directly to the struts, rather, than to the upper surface of a container. The cover 27 also provides a protective corner for the upper corners of a container 10, and inasmuch as the cover extends over the outer surface 37 of the depending portion of the U-shaped strips 33 and 34, it

serves to cover the space between adjacent stacks of containers to prevent dirt and other particles from falling therebetween and also to prevent pencils or other valuable articles which may be placed on the cover from falling between the stacks and making their recovery difificult if not impossible without actual separation of the stacks.

The covers 27 may be placed upon the uppermost container either before the container is put in place on a stack or after. However, inasmuch as the average container is relatively heavy, it is simpler to put the container in place on a stack and then place a cover-27 on the container, care being exercised in locating the cover in such manner that the depending portions of the strips 33 and '34 are properly located relative to'straps' 24 and the edges 22 of the corrugated regions 21.

I claim: 1. In combination, a plurality of containers stacked one upon the other, each container including a body of wardly and those in said lower ends opening downwardly,

said sockets being adapted to receive the vertically dis posed ends of said tie rods, said vertically disposed ends bottoming on the sockets such that vertical loads imposed upon said tie rods are transferred to said sockets through said vertically disposed ends, a cover for the uppermost container in a stack, protuberances on the cover adapted to be received in and bottom upon the sockets in the upper ends of the rigid members secured to said uppermost container whereby to transfer loads imposed upon the cover to the last said sockets.

2. In a combination as described in claim 1, each said protuberance comprises the depending ends of a U-shaped strip secured to the underside of the cover.

3. The combination as'described in claim 1, each said socket comprises a laterally oflset region providing a horizontal ledge on the rigid member, a strap spaced vertically and laterally from the said offset region, the vertically disposed end bottoming on the socket by contacting the horizontal ledge of the rigid member.

4. 'In the combination as described in claim 1, a tie rod secured to the underside of the cover, and said protuberances constituting the depending ends of said tie rod, the tie rod secured to the underside of the cover being interchangeable with one-half of the first-mentioned tie rods.

5. In the combination as described in claim 1, said tie rods comprising U-shaped strips secured back-to-back, a substantially identical U-shaped strip secured to the underside of the cover, said protuberances on the container being formed by the depending ends of the U-shaped strip. a

6. In combination, an upright stack of containers, each said container including a body of fibrous material having substantially parallel sides and substantially parallel top and bottom, verticallydisposed elongated rigid members secured to opposed sides of each said container and adapted to support vertical loads, vertically extending interlocking means for interlocking oppositely disposed ones of said rigid members secured to adjacent containers in said stack, said interlocking means including support means for each said container, each container in said stack resting on said support means and being supported by said interlocking means, a cover for the uppermost container in said stack, and means on said cover for supporting it from said rigid members whereby loads imposed upon said cover are transferred to said interlocking means, said cover having depending flanges disposed along two opposite sides thereof and embracing the upper portion of the interlocking means and said rigid members, such that the space between laterally adjacent stacks'is substantially closed by the adjacent flanges of theicovers for said adjacent stacks.

References Cited in the file of this patent V UNITED. STATES PATENTS 1,292,946 Yawman Jan. 23,1919 2,121,190 Fellowes June 21, 1938 2,203,127 Borah June 4, 1940 2,246,966 Zalkind June 24, 1941 2,339,339 Kaser Jan. 18, 1944 

